Seattle’s annual Pride Parade drew online backlash after video surfaced of an attendee waving a flag that blended transgender Pride and Palestinian imagery.
The parade, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, brought nearly 300,000 people into downtown Seattle for a celebration centered on LGBTQ+ rights, activism and historic acts of resistance.
On Sunday, conservative outlet TPUSA Frontlines shared a clip on X that appeared to show a woman walking with the Seattle Mariners’ official Pride contingent, prompting a wave of debate across social media.
The footage showed the woman marching beside others while holding a large hybrid flag featuring design elements and colors associated with both the transgender and Palestinian flags. Nearby participants could be seen waving smaller Pride flags.
The video quickly amassed more than 500,000 views and hundreds of comments, with critics calling the display “stupid” and citing concerns over the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in Gaza.
In Gaza, same-sex sexual activity is banned under the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance of 1936, a statute introduced during British rule and widely reported to still be in effect, according to The Human Dignity Trust.
The law carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, though it applies only to sexual activity between men.
Despite the controversy, the long-running Pride event also included prominent displays of support for Palestinians, with Seattle Pride releasing a statement expressing solidarity and calling for a ceasefire.
Seattle’s annual Pride Parade sparked controversy after an attendee was filmed waving around a hybrid transgender-Palestinian flag
In a statement shared Tuesday, the organization wrote: ‘Seattle Pride stands in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian people, who are undergoing a genocide.’
‘Since October, more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed, and thousands are lying underneath the rubble, following more than 70 years of systemic oppression, occupation and apartheid,’ it added.
‘Criticizing the actions of the state of Israel is not tantamount to discrimination against Jewish people, as Jewish people are not synonymous with the Israeli government.’
Several pro-Palestinian and Jewish advocacy groups took part in the march, but the short clip still triggered intense controversy, with critics highlighting conditions for LGBTQ+ people in Palestinian territories.
The law remains in force in Gaza, but is not enforced elsewhere in Palestine, with little evidence of it being actively applied and appearing largely obsolete in practice.
Same-sex sexual activity between men was decriminalized in the West Bank in 1951, with several LGBTQ civil society organizations later emerging in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, according to a report published by Outright International.
Registering as openly LGBTQ, however, remains challenging.
Enforcement has been rare, though it has been reported on a few occasions. In a 2017 case, an author was allegedly threatened with prosecution over a novel containing LGBT themes, according to The Human Dignity Trust.
The video quickly drew more than half a million views and hundreds of comments, with many labeling the display as ‘stupid’ and pointing to how LGBTQ+ people are treated in Gaza
In Gaza, same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance of 1936 and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison – only applied to men
In February 2017, the Palestinian Attorney General reportedly attempted to prosecute writer Abbad Yahya while also banning his novel, Crime in Ramallah.
Yahya was accused of threatening morality and public decency through his work, which explored themes of politics, religion and homosexuality through its protagonists, according to the outlet.
In 2019, Palestinian police banned LGBTQ groups from holding events and activities in the West Bank, a move later reversed after intense backlash.
According to Outright International, Palestinian-led organizations have also faced challenges registering in Israel.
The UK FCDO Human Rights and Democracy Report from 2022 found that attacks on people perceived to have links to the LGBT+ community increased in the West Bank.
In June of that year, members of a Fatah-affiliated movement stormed a concert organized by an LGBT+ Palestinian artist.
The following month, a theater festival with British, Swedish and Irish nationals was attacked after a street parade was mistaken for a Pride event, according to the report.
In one of the most violent reported cases in Palestine, police arrested a man suspected of murdering and beheading a 25-year-old gay man, according to the BBC.
In a statement, Seattle Pride wrote: ‘Seattle Pride stands in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian people, who are undergoing a genocide’
Seattle Pride’s statement echoed the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry’s latest report, released on Tuesday
According to the outlet, LGBT activists in Israel, where Ahmed Abu Murkhiya had sought refuge, said the young man had received threats over his sexuality.
Activists said Murkhiya had spent the past two years in Israel waiting for a decision on his asylum application after receiving a number of death threats from his community.
Friends of the victim said he was kidnapped and taken to the West Bank, while his family said he regularly visited the area for work and described the motive as ‘rumors.’
Murkhiya’s decapitated body was later found in the West Bank, with police arresting an unnamed suspect.
Despite scrutiny after the now-viral clip from Seattle’s Pride Parade earlier this week, some supporters rallied behind the decision to display the blended flag.
Many, including the organization, said the display was meant to show solidarity with Palestinians amid ongoing violence in the region and to denounce ‘pinkwashing.’
‘We strongly denounce pinkwashing and homonationalism – propaganda tactics that attempt to justify or distract from state violence and oppression by promoting a facade of LGBTQIA2S+ tolerance,’ the group said in their statement.
‘We reject any attempt to exploit LGBTQIA2S+ rights as a cover for human rights abuses,’ they added.
The UN report determined that Israel has ‘deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank’
The UN report also described arrests, torture, starvation and severe abuse in Israeli prisons
Seattle Pride’s explanation for the hybrid flag was included in a statement echoing the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry’s latest report, released on Tuesday.
The report confirmed that Israeli authorities and security forces have ‘deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank.’
Seattle Pride shared statistics, including that one million Palestinians have fled Rafah since Israel issued ‘evacuation orders’ there on May 6.
‘We echo the United Nations Security Council’s demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza,’ the statement read.
‘We also stand against the ongoing genocides happening in Sudan, Myanmar, Congo, Turtle Island, China, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria and to all Indigenous peoples worldwide.’
The organization also reiterated that they ‘unequivocally’ stand against antisemitism, adding that they ‘firmly reject the notion that supporting the people of Palestine equates to antisemitism.’
‘We are actively in conversation with local queer Palestinian and Jewish organizers to best understand the desired response on a local level,’ they wrote.
‘We have donated to organizations that lead direct relief initiatives for Palestinian people to help ensure that immediate needs are met and essential services are provided to those most affected by the crisis.’
Seattle Pride also reiterated that they ‘unequivocally’ stand against antisemitism and ‘reject the notion that supporting the people of Palestine equates to antisemitism’
The same figures were included in the UN’s latest report, which covered the period following Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in around 250 hostages.
Meanwhile, Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to the data.
‘Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law,’ Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said.
More than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed and around 44,000 injured since October 7. Reports also described arrests, torture, starvation and severe abuse in Israeli prisons.
